Thanks to everyone coming out this past Saturday, and helping us get 23 boats on the line in some very chilly conditions! Throughout the day, we had steady wind around 8-10 knots. Current was sweeping across the course, going out of the harbor, and seeming to slack through the afternoon. In the first few races, you simply had to sail course left to take advantage of a mixture of current relief and geographic shifts. The course become more even, as we brought the pin down, the right gate up, and the current slacked. During race four, the wind came down as the snow fall increased, leading to slower races and reduced visibility. Fortunately, we were able to get 6 races and finish around 3pm!

Overall, starts were very good. We had a general recall in which nearly everyone in the front row was over, which is a sign of a quality fleet. Watching races, I was impressed by how much better starts and mark roundings looked throughout the fleet, compared to the first weeks of the series. The fleet tends to stay close together, racing is tight, and boats are often switching places through the last moments of the finish! We had 6 races, and 5 different boats get a 1st place finish. Pretty exciting for Rhodes 19s!

This Saturday is the Valentine's Day Regatta, which I hope you will all join us for. Results don't count for the regular series, and I know we will have lot's of extra boats, so let me know if you wan't a boat and don't normally sail, or if you do normally sail but won't be joining in the fun this Saturday. Prizes will be chocolate hearts. The Winter Series awards will be given out after racing the following Saturday. Congratulations to Mark Lindsay and Jim Watson on 1st Place, Matt Marston and Cheney Brand on 2nd, and Bryan Lee, Annemarije Veenland, and FJ Ritt on 3rd!

I trust that everyone had a great weekend and Nate ran things well in my absence. Before this week's guest blog by Mark, I have two announcements to share.

We have two special events this upcoming Saturday, Rules Clinic, at Seaport School, this Saturday, December 20, 9:30-11am. This will be something of a directed Q&A, so if you have questions, please come to this event.

Holiday Party, at Pier 6, after racing on Saturday. Free sliders, apps, beer specials, etc. We will also be giving out the series 1 awards this Saturday. We will also be presenting the Elvstrom trophy to last year's winners of our annual sportsmanship award.